UNDER GROUND CABLE FAULT DETECTOR USING

ARDUINO

MINOR PROJECT REPORT

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement of

B.Tech, Electrical Engineering

By
SINGH HIMANSHU (14BEE103)
RAJEEV SOLANKI (14BEE136D)
VEDANG PRAJAPATI (14BEE134D)

Under the Supervision of Dr. ANIL MARKANA

School Of Technology
Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University
Gandhinagar-382007. Gujarat,INDIA

DECEMBER 2018

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 Approval Sheet

This report entitled “Under Ground Cable Fault Detector Using Arduino” by Singh
Himanshu (14bee103), Rajeev Solanki (14bee136d) and Vedang Prajapati
(14bee134d) is recommended for the degree of B.Tech, Electrical Engineering.

Examiners

______________________

______________________

______________________

Supervisor/Supervisors

______________________

______________________

Date: _______________

Place: ______________

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 Student Declaration

We Singh Himanshu (14bee103), Rajeev Solanki (14bee136d) and Vedang Prajapati

(14bee134d) hereby declare that this written submission represents our ideas in our own
words and where others’ idea or words have been included, We have adequately cited
and referenced the original sources. We also declare that we have adhered to all
principles of academic honestly and integrity and have not misrepresented or fabricated
or falsified any idea / data / fact / source in our submission. We understand that any
violation of the above will be cause for disciplinary action by the PANDIT
DEENDAYAL PETROLEUM UNIVERSITY and can also evoke penal action from the
sources which have thus not been properly cited or from whim proper permission has
not been taken when needed.

Singh Himanshu (14bee103)

Rajeev Solanki (14bee136d)

Vedang Prajapati (14bee134d)

Date: _____________

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We would like to express my sincere gratitude to our project mentor Dr. AnilKumar
Markana for providing his invaluable guidance and suggestions throughout the
course of the project and gave us the golden opportunity for the same.

Furthermore we would also like to acknowledge with much appreciation the crucial
role of all the lab assistants of who gave the permission to use all required
equipment and the necessary materials to complete the project.

This project has provided us with the in depth knowledge about the subject and it’s
various aspects in practical life.

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 ABSTRACT

Cable faults are damage to cables which affects the resistance in the cable. If
allowed to persist, this can lead to a voltage breakdown. To locate a fault in the
cable, the cable must first be tested for faults. This prototype uses the simple concept
of OHMs law. The current would vary depending upon the length of fault of the
cable. This prototype is assembled with a set of resistors representing cable length in
Kilo meters and fault creation is made by a set of switches at every known Kilo
meters (km’s) to cross check the accuracy of the same. The fault occurring at what
distance and which phase is displayed on a 16X2 LCD interfaced with the
microcontroller.
 
In this project, a way for underground cable fault distance locator is done by using
microcontroller. The target of this project is to work out the gap of underground
cable fault through base station in kilometers. It uses the straight forward conception
of Ohm’s law, voltage drop can vary counting on the length of fault in cable, since
the current varies. A group of resistors are used to represent the length of cable in
kilometers and a dc voltage is fed at one end and the fault is detected the change in
voltage using analog to voltage converter. The fault occurring at what distance is
shown on LCD which is interfaced with the microcontroller that is used to make the
necessary calculations.

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I. INTRODUCTION

The objective of this project is to determine the distance of underground cable fault
from base station in kilo meters using an Arduino board. Generally we use overhead
lines. We can easily identify the faults but in rushed places or familiar cities we
couldn’t use overhead lines. So, we are moving to underground cables. Underground
cables used largely in urban area instead of overhead lines. We can’t easily identify
the faults in the underground cables. This project deals with Arduino
microcontroller, buzzer and LCD. This proposes greatly reduces the time and
operates effectively. The underground cabling system is a common practice
followed in many urban areas. Many time faults occur due to construction works and
other reasons. At that time it is difficult to dig out cable due to not knowing the
exact location of the cable fault. Arduino microcontroller, buzzer and LCD. This
proposes greatly reduces the time and operates effectively. The underground cabling
system is a common practice followed in many urban areas. Many time faults occur
due to construction works and other reasons. At that time it is difficult to dig out
cable due to not knowing the exact location of the cable fault.

II. RELATED WORK

Programs uploaded in Arduino UNO kit to detect faults from the underground
cables. When a fault occur in the underground cables, we can find out faults through
Arduino controller kit. LCD display which displays the faults in Kilometers. In this
project we created faults manually. Cable has many types. Every cable has different
resistance which depends upon the material used. The value of the resistance is
depends upon the length of the cable. In here resistance is the leading role of the
project. If any deviation occurs in the resistance, the value of the voltage will be
changed that particular point is called FAULT. We are finding out those faults.

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TYPES OF FAULTS

Generally there are different types of faults. Frequently occurring faults are given
below
 Short Circuit Fault
 Open Circuit Fault
 Earth Fault

Short Circuit Fault

A short circuit fault occurs when there is an insulation failure between phase
conductors or between phase conductor(s) and earth or both. An insulation failure
results into formation of a short circuit path that triggers a short-circuit conditions in
the circuit.

Open Circuit Fault

An open-circuit fault occurs if a circuit is interrupted by some failure. If the circu it
is not closed that is called open circuit fault.

Earth Fault
An earth fault is an inadvertent contact between an energized conductor and earth or
equipment frame. The return path of the fault current is through the grounding
system and any personnel or equipment that becomes part of that system.

III PROPOSED SYSTEM

Underground fault detection deals with finding the exact fault location from the base
station .Cables have some resistance. We are mainly focusing that resistance.
Resistance can vary with respect to the length of the cable. If the length of the cable
increases, the value of the resistance will also increase. If any deviation occurs in the
resistance value, we call that as fault point and that point can be identified with the
help of Arduino technology. That fault point represents the standard of distance
(kilometer) from the base station and the value is displayed by the display unit.

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BLOCK DIAGRAM

Figure.1.Block Diagram

BLOCK DIAGRAM DESCRIPTION:

We uploaded the program in the kit, Program was written and if any fault occurs in
the cable, immediately it will open the relay terminal and disconnect that faulty line
only. Rest of the other lines operates normally. Arduino is the advanced version of
embedded system. These Arduino has ample types but we selected Arduino UNO. It
easily adapts to other devices using serial port. Relay is nothing but an electrical
device that acts as a switch; if any fault occurs in the line it will disconnect the line
using relay. The connector of the relay moves from normally closed conduct to
normally open conduct. We can easily find the fault and disconnect the faulty line.
Display unit is connected to the Arduino kit which is used to display where the fault
occurs. Once faults occur in the cable, the display unit displays the exact fault
location and also displays which phase is affected in the cable and how long it’s
affected and buzzer system is used to create an alerting signal. Buzzer systems
create an alerting sound signal, once the fault occurs in the underground cable.

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CIRCUIT DIAGRAM:

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CIRCUIT DIAGRAM DESCRIPTION:

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The objective of this project is to determine the distance of  underground cable
fault from the base station in kilometers. An underground cable system is quite
common in many urban areas wherein it becomes very difficult to repair in case of
any faults because finding the exact location of the fault in such cable system is
quite difficult. With the proposed system, finding the exact location of the fault is
possible. This project uses a standard concept of Ohms law, i.e., when a low DC
voltage is applied at the feeder end through series resistor (assuming them as cable
lines), then the current would vary depending upon the location of the fault in the
cable.
In case of a short circuit (line to ground), the voltage across the series resistors
changes which is then fed to an ADC, to develop a precise digital data that gets
displayed on the LCD. The project is assembled with a set of resistors representing
cable length in km and fault creation is made by a set of switches at every known
km to cross check the accuracy of the same. The fault that occurs at a particular
distance of a particular phase is displayed on the LCD interfaced to the
microcontroller.
Further more, this project can be enhanced by using a capacitor in an AC circuit to
measure the impedance which can even locate an open-circuited cable, unlike
short-circuited fault only using resistors in DC circuit as followed in the above
proposed project.
While any of the 12switches (representing as fault switches) are operated they
impose conditions like line to ground (LG), line to line (LL), line to line to line(3L)
fault as per the switch operation. The program while executed continuously scans by
operating the 3relays in sequence of 1sec interval. Thus any NO point while driven
to GND through the common contact point of the relay develops a current flow
through R1 & any of the cable by the fault switch depending on the created fault.
Thus the voltage drop at the analog to digital (ADC)  pin varies depending on the
current flow which is inversely proportional to the resistance value representing the
length of cable in kilometres.

IV. SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION

PROTEUS SIMULATOR

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Proteus is software for microprocessor simulation, schematic capture, etc. It is
developed by Lab Centre Electronics.
The following are the system components of proteus :
 ISIS Schematic Capture – a tool for entering designs.
 PROSPICE Mixed mode SPICE simulation – industry standard SPICE3F5
simulator combined with a digital simulator.
 VSM – Virtual System Modelling let co-simulateEmbedded software for
popular micro -controllers alongside hardware design.
 System Benefits Integrated package with common user interface and fully
context sensitive help.
Proteus Virtual System Modelling combines mixed mode SPICE circuit Simulation,
animated components and microprocessor models to facilitate co-simulation of
complete microcontroller based designs. This is very useful and user friendly to
handle the components. The version used for project design is Proteus Professional
7.0. Proteus Professional Software for auto mated design of electronic circuits. The
package is a system of circuit simulation, based on the models of electronic
components in PSpice. A distinctive feature of the package Proteus Professional is
the possibility of modelling of the programmable devices: Microcontrollers,
Microprocessor, DSP and others. Additionally, the package of Proteus Professional
is a system design of printed circuit boards. Proteus Professional can simulate the
following microcontrollers: 8051, A RM7, A VR, Motorola, PIC, Basic Stamp. The
library contains the components of data Co - simulation of microprocessor software
within a mixed mode SPICE simulator.

ARDUINO SOFTWARE:

The Arduino Integrated Development Environment - or Arduino Software (IDE) -

contains a text editor for writing code, a message area, a text console, a toolbar with

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buttons for common functions and a series of menus. It connects to the Arduino and
Genuino hardware to upload programs and communicate with them. Programs
written using Arduino Software (IDE) are called sketches. The message area gives
feedback while saving and exporting and also displays errors. The console displays
text output by the Arduino Software (IDE), including complete error messages and
other information. The bottom right hand corner of the window displays the
configured board and serial port. The toolbar buttons allow you to verify and upload
programs, create, open, and save sketches, and open the serial monitor.

HARDWARE DESCRIPTION:

POWER SUPPLY UNIT.

Power supply is a very important part of electronic circuit. This circuit requires fixed
+5 V supply so to fix this voltage we need voltage regulator. In this work we used
IC7805 as voltage regulator. A voltage regulator generates a fixed output voltage of
a preset magnitude that remains constant regardless of changes to its input voltage or
load conditions. There are two types of voltage regulators: linear and switching.
Here we make use of a linear regulator employs an active pass device (series or
shunt) controlled by a high gain differential amplifier. It compares the output
voltage with a passive reference voltage with a precise reference voltage and adjusts
the pass device to maintain a constant output voltage.

ARDUINO UNO.

Open source microcontroller board on microchip Atmega 328p microchip. The

board is equipped with sets of digital and analog input/output pins. 14 Digital pins, 6
Analog pins and programmable with Arduino IDE (Integrated development
environment), via type B USB cable. It can be powered by USB cable or by an
external 9 volts battery, though it accepts voltages between 7 and 20 volts. Atmega
328 on Arduino comes preprogrammed with a bootloader that allows uploading new
codes to it without the use of an external hardware programmer.

ATMEGA 328P.

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Features:
High Performance, Low Power CMOS 8-Bit Microcontroller 32 x 8 (256) General
Purpose Working Registers High Endurance Non-volatile Memory Segments
32KBytes of In-System Flash program memory Data retention: 20 years at 85°C/100
years at 25°C 2KBytes Internal SRAM 1KBytes EEPROM Max. Operating
Frequency 20MHz 8 bit microcontroller means CPU or ALU can process 8 bit data
at a time. Means it has to take 8 bit data from memory (which it has to process).
Thus each location in memory is 8 bit and data bus is also 8 bit. Registers in RAM
has to be 8 bit for temporary storage of results.

Peripheral Features:
Two 8-bit Timer/Counters
One 16-bit Timer/Counter
Six PWM Channels
6-channel 10-bit ADC
On-chip Analog Comparator

Temperature range: -40°C to 85°C

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15
AREF (Analog Reference):Reference voltage for the analog inputs.

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AVCC: It is power for the analog circuitry (Port C pins and internal A/D).

Digital Pins (2-6, 11-19):The digital pins can be used for general purpose input and
output via the pinMode(), digitalRead(), and digitalWrite() commands. The
maximum current per pin is 40 mA.

Serial: 2 (RX) and 3 (TX). Used to receive (RX) and transmit (TX) TTL serial data.
These pins cannot be used for digital I/O if you are using serial communication (e.g.
Serial begin).
.
External Interrupts: 4 and 5. These pins can be configured to trigger an interrupt
on a low value, a rising or falling edge, or a change in value.

PWM: 5, 11, 12, 15, 16 and 17.Provide 8 bit PWM output with the analog write()
function. PWM output pins available only on pins 15, 16, 17.

SPI: 16(SS), 17(MOSI), 18(MISO), 19(SCK). These pins support SPI (Serial
pheripheral interface) communication.

Analog pins (23-28): The analog input pins support 10 bits analog to digital
conversion using the analogRead() function. Most of the analog inputs can also be
used as a digital pins.

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LCD (LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY)

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) is an Alphabetic Display it means that it can display
Alphabets, Numbers as well as special symbols thus LCD is a user friendly Display
device which can be used for displaying various messages unlike seven segment
display which can display only numbers and some of the alphabets. Here we have
used 16 x 2 alphanumeric displays. The command register stores the command
instructions given to the LCD. A command is an instruction given to LCD to do a
predefined task like initializing it, clearing its screen, setting the cursor position,
controlling display etc. The data register stores the data to be displayed on the LCD.
The data is the ASCII value of the character to be displayed on the LCD.

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RELAY :

Relay is sensing device which senses the fault &send a trip signal to circuit breaker
to isolate the faulty section. A relay is automatic device by means of which an
electrical circuit is indirectly controlled & is governed by change in the same or
another electrical circuit. There are various types of relay: Numerical relay, Static
relay & electromagnetic relay. Relay are housed in panel in the control room.

ADVANTAGES:
1) Less maintenance
2) It has higher efficiency
3) Less fault occur in underground cable
4)Underground cable fault location model are applicable to all types of cable
ranging from 1kv to 500kv & other types of cable fault such as-Short circuit fault,
cable cuts, Resistive fault, Sheath faults, Water trees, Partial discharges.
5) Improved public safety.

ULN2003A (HIGH VOLTAGE, HIGH CURRENT DARLINGTON).

The seven NPN Darlington connected transistors in these arrays are well suited for
driving lamps, relays, or printer hammers in a variety of industrial and consumer
applications. Their high breakdown voltage and internal suppression diodes insure
freedom from problems associated with inductive loads.
Ratings: Output Voltage -50V;
Input Voltage -30V.
Base current – 25 mA

LED.
It is a two-lead semiconductor light source. It is a p-n junction diode that emits light
when activated.

SWITCH.

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APPLICATION AND ADVANTAGES

•APPLICATION:
It is basically use for underground wire fault detection.

•ADVANTAGES:
This includes aesthetics, higher public acceptance, and perceived benefits of
protection against electromagnetic field radiation (which is still present in
underground lines), fewer interruptions, and lower maintenance costs. Failure rates
of overhead lines and underground cables vary widely, but typically underground
cable outage rates are about half of their equivalent overhead line types. Potentially
far fewer momentary interruptions occur from lightning, animals and tree branches
falling on wires which de-energize a circuit and then reenergize it a moment later.

•Lower storm restoration cost

•Lower tree-trimming cost
•Increased reliability during severe weather (wind related storm damage will be
greatly reduced for an underground system, and areas not subjected to flooding and
storm surges experience minimal damage and interruption of electric service.
•Less damage during severe weather.
•Far fewer momentary interruptions Improved utility relations regarding tree
trimming
 Improved Public Safety.
•Fewer motor vehicle accidents
•Reduced live-wire contact injuries
•Fewer Fires
•Improved aesthetics (removal of unsightly poles and wires, enhanced tree
canopies). Fewer structures impacting sidewalks

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PROGRAM CODE:

// include the library code:

#include <LiquidCrystal.h>

// initialize the library with the numbers of the interface pins

LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 5, 4, 3, 2);

// define phase control pins

int phase[3] = {7, 8, 9};

//*********************************************************
int distance(int inputVoltage) {
if (inputVoltage >= 890 && inputVoltage < 920) {
return 8;
}
else if (inputVoltage >= 850 && inputVoltage < 890) {
return 6;
}
else if (inputVoltage >= 750 && inputVoltage < 850) {
return 4;
}
else if (inputVoltage >= 600 && inputVoltage < 750) {
return 2;
}

else return 0 ;

}
//*********************************************************

void setup() {
// set up the LCD's number of columns and rows:
lcd.begin(16, 2);

// set pin mode for phase relays

for (int j = 0; j < 3; j++) {
pinMode(phase[j], OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
digitalWrite(phase[0], HIGH);
delay(500);
int dist1 = distance(analogRead(A0));
if (dist1 == 0) {
lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.write("R: ");
lcd.setCursor(3, 0);
lcd.write("NF ");
}
else {
lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.write("R: ");
lcd.setCursor(3, 0);

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 lcd.print(dist1);
lcd.setCursor(4, 0);
lcd.write(" KM");
}
digitalWrite(phase[0], LOW);
//================================================
digitalWrite(phase[1], HIGH);
delay(500);
int dist2 = distance(analogRead(A0));
if (dist2 == 0) {
lcd.setCursor(8, 0);
lcd.write("Y: ");
lcd.setCursor(11, 0);
lcd.write("NF ");
}
else {
lcd.setCursor(8, 0);
lcd.write("Y: ");
lcd.setCursor(11, 0);
lcd.print(dist2);
lcd.setCursor(12, 0);
lcd.write(" KM");
}
digitalWrite(phase[1], LOW);
//==================================================
digitalWrite(phase[2], HIGH);
delay(500);
int dist3 = distance(analogRead(A0));
if (dist3 == 0) {
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.write("B: ");
lcd.setCursor(3, 1);
lcd.write("NF ");
}
else {
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.write("B: ");
lcd.setCursor(3, 1);
lcd.print(dist3);
lcd.setCursor(4, 1);
lcd.write(" KM");
}
digitalWrite(phase[2], LOW);
}

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CONCLUSION:

This is proposed model of underground cable fault distance locator using

microcontroller. It is classified in four parts-DC power supply part , cable part,
controlling part, display part. DC power supply part consist of ac supply of 230v is
stepdown using transformer, bridge - rectifier converts ac signal to dc & regulator is
used to produce constant dc voltage. The cable part is denoted by set of resistors
along with switches. Current sensing part of cable represented as set of resistors
&switches are used as fault creators to indicate the fault at each location. This part
senses the change in current by sensing the voltage drop. Next is controlling part
which consist of analog to digital convertor which receives input from the current
sensing circuit, converts this voltage into digital signal and feeds the microcontroller
with the signal. The microcontroller also forms part of the controlling unit and
makes necessary calculations regarding the distance of the fault. The microcontroller
also drives a relay driver which in turn controls the switching of a set of relays for
proper connection of the cable at each phase. The display part consists of the LCD
display interfaced to the microcontroller which shows the status of the cable of each
phase and the distance of the cable at the particular phase, in case of any fault.

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REFERENCE:

https://www.scribd.com/document/346324568/Underground-Wire-Fault-
Detector-Project-Report

www.wikipedia.com

https://www.irjet.net/archives/V4/i3/IRJET-V4I3640.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZidJ90kEp8

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